Western and Elizabeth work for us, but many times they end up being more work for us and so we remind ourselves continuously that they are a ministry for JM2Z. We pour into them and we pray that they see Jesus' love clearly. So even though Baby Western isn't our baby, he has sure added to our workload. That said, he has crawled his way right into our hearts and we sure do love this little guy. We will be leaving Zimbabwe just before Baby Western's first birthday. We can't believe it's been almost a year since he was born! We made a few cupcakes to celebrate, which was his first taste of cake (I think Western and Elizabeth enjoyed the cupcakes as much as the baby!). We also got him a couple toys for him to open. We were sure to take pictures of Elizabeth with him and also Western with him, so that they could have individual pictures with Baby Western.

He is crawling now and can pull himself up to stand in his camp-cot. Yolanda is sad we will miss his first steps, but by the time we return next January, he will be running around and getting into everything. We certainly do not have a childproof house, so we will probably need to be putting breakables out of reach pretty soon :-) 

To say that the cash shortage (which has gone on for the past 2 years) is crippling the economy, is an understatement. Even in the "good" times, gas stations may not always have gas. Sometimes they do, sometimes not. It goes back and forth. Sometimes diesel is hard to find and other times regular is hard to find. We are blessed, having two vehicles; one that takes diesel and one that takes regular. We keep the tanks as full as possible, so we have never been desperate. If gas stations don't have any then they'll have it a few days later. A couple months ago, it was diesel that was running short, but currently it's regular. There are 6 or 7 gas stations in Chinhoyi and for the past 3 weeks, only two will have regular gas at any given time. Most people can only afford to put a few dollars in at a time, which means they need to fill up pretty regularly. This leads to large lines as you can see.

Watch the 1 minute video below from downtown Chinhoyi (there are 35 cars in this line!). Like I said, we've never been desperate for gas before, but we just pray that it stays available.

Please be in prayer for the country, as the electi0n is just less than 2 weeks away (July 30). There are p0litical ads on billboards all over the place and posters everywhere. The presldent was just in Chinhoyi today, speaking at a rally. We watched his helicopters fly right by our house as he came into town. There were truckloads of people who came to attend with big speakers on top of the vehicles with messages about the campai9n.

Please pray for a fair electi0n, safety for all, and a positive trajectory in the coming months and years. Zimbabwe is a very safe country (possibly one of the safest in Africa; where else do you have a miIitary c0up without anyone getting hurt?), but during an electi0n cycle violence is not uncommon, so please pray (Grammatical errors are intentional).

We are flying out of Harare on Thursday (just 35 hours from now!). We have been crazy busy setting up the next 6 months here so that ministry can keep going while we are gone. We are confident that Janeece will do a wonderful job keeping the women's groups going strongly and have everything running smoothly at the house.

We will arrive in London on Friday morning to visit with Yolanda's mother. Since our last vacation time was 2 years ago, the board approved some time for us to rest, relax, and recoup before beginning our speaking engagements and catching up with so many of you in person. We will be traveling 10,000+ miles within the US while we are stateside, so we figured the perfect time to regroup physically, emotionally, and spiritually would be at this point.

Our next blog will update you all on our itinerary while stateside. We have been planning the last several months and reaching out to new churches as well. Our need is great, but our God is even greater - we are excited to see how the Lord decides to meet the needs of JM2Z so we can continue to faithfully serve the women and children here in Zimbabwe.

We would appreciate prayer for safety in travel as we have long flights, layovers, etc. Please pray for positive visits and updates when we meet with churches and friends, sharing all that God has been doing in Zimbabwe in the past 2+ years. We are excited to see as many of you as possible and are eager to catch up in person soon!

We have had a fabulous last 2 weeks! It has been busy and a roller coaster of emotions, but it has been incredibly rewarding, healing, informative, and a growing opportunity for many of the ladies. My (Yolanda) good friend Rumbi and I get together every so often to visit, pray, encourage one another and discuss the struggles and blessings of ministry. She too is in ministry and her passion is counseling. This year she has been to Uganda a couple times to do a training seminar on how to lead healing groups for women who have experienced trauma. The training also addresses how these women can be effective in supporting others who are hurting within their own communities. Just over a month ago we discussed how she could facilitate such an event with both our Tuesday and Wednesday groups.

If you have been with JM2Z for any amount of time, you know that there are 3 branches within our ministry that deal with the whole person: physical, emotional, spiritual. We believe that it's essential to have an holistic philosophy of ministry in order to be effective in ministering to the whole person. This has always been our passion and our goal for JM2Z. The last 2 years have really seen these 3 branches come to fruition in a beautiful synergistic way. This Counseling Seminar was truly the missing piece in truly feeding the emotional branch in JM2Z.

Needless to say, the last 2 weeks were planned, prayed for and put into motion to best help heal and equip the women. The Healing Groups took place over a 2 week period - 3 days one week and 3 days the following week. This gave the women an opportunity to process all the information. We had full days with tea breaks and lunch included. Their younger children 5 and under also attended, so we had a couple babies, toddlers and little kids that were kept busy with the outside jungle-gym, coloring pages, toys, and treats.

After burning their pain and loss at the foot of the cross, they broke out into a song (which is the video below). The words they are singing are, "Heaven is coming. Heaven is near." They are looking forward to the time when they are in heaven and there will be no more pain or loss. Their emotion is quite visible.

​Throughout the week we had skits, ice-breakers, games, discussion groups, prayer and worship times, art therapy, and a variety of activities that would reiterate the topic at hand or merely relax the women as we addressed incredibly difficult information that was very personal to them - rape, molestation, abuse, assault, poverty, HIV/AIDS, crime, death, loss, pain, hurt, suffering, trauma, crisis.... the list goes on. It was 2 weeks of incredibly emotionally draining material and conversations and yet the healing  that took place was like watching physical transformations right before our eyes. Several women described their experience as feeling "lighter." Many left equipped and ready to assist others especially children within their communities. Everyone was given useful resources that are available within Chinhoyi - HIV/AIDS centers, support groups, free testing and counseling areas, child's abuse hotlines and locations, numbers for certain people in legal and judicial settings that offer free services, and churches that have partnered with non-profits that act as mediators in times of family trauma, etc.

It's impossible to share with you the many things that were discussed, addressed and all the results from the 2 weeks of training. At the end of each day the women would just say thank you over and over again. For most this information was brand new, the realization that they were allowed to feel pain, anger, grief AND still be a Christian. The fact that their culture did not support their grieving process and how we can start to change that within our realm of influence. It was obvious that women were leaving each day more empowered to help their own wounded hearts but also to assist in helping others heal as well.

The day before the last session we gave the women an opportunity to write down any questions they may have - each women came back the next day with pages and pages of questions. Their eagerness to learn and grow was evident. It was clear that time would not allow for ALL these issues to be addressed. Rumbi has already agreed to meet with the ladies possibly while we are gone to address these questions with them (this week we will meet - the 2 of us - to ensure I understand the many questions the women have raised and in order to be prepared to meet their needs as best I can when we arrive back next year).

​We have also already decided to have another 2 week seminar next year when we return. This time each lesson will be topic specific such as: HIV/AIDS, being a carer, rape/sexual assault, domestic violence, etc. These 2 completed weeks have prepared the women's hearts and assisted in their own healing. They have been given some tools to help others, but much more training is required for them to be fully equipped. Next year the specific topics will go a long way in addressing things that so many have dealt with or know of others dealing with such issues within their community. Will you start praying now for the event next year? Will you pray that the women will find complete healing from their wounded hearts? Will you pray for continued confidentiality within the group and that continued vulnerability will take place among them? Will you pray for protection from the enemy as he pursues them now that they've taken steps to heal, forgive, and let go? These women are obviously very vulnerable and fragile after such an intense 2 weeks and we will soon leave them for 6 months. Please pray for them fervently!

We have many stories we would like to share, however we will do some of that in person and not share these ladies most intimate stories here. There is such a thin line between wanting to tell you EVERYTHING and needing to protect the women and their immense faith in us. Will you be patient with us as we pray and decide what is appropriate to share with you?